A leading medical authority has criticized usage of anti-aging hormones in response to a recently released report “The use of hormones for “anti-aging”: a review of efficacy and safety,” by the American Medical Association’s (AMA) Council.
The example demonstrated by the AMA was applauded by Dr. Thomas T. Perls, an associate professor of medicine at Boston University School of Medicine. AMA recently made an assessment of benefits and risks associated with growth hormone, testosterone, estrogen, and DHEA for anti-aging.
“The AMA’s review of the risks and benefits of these hormones in the setting of anti-aging and athletic enhancement is very important given its inclusion of the consensus and position statements of the key professional medical societies as well as the federal agencies that guard public health.” states Dr. Perls in the editorial.
The editorial summarizes the AMA’s assessment for each of the purported anti-aging hormones and essentially the bottom line of his argument is that in terms of anti-aging, the risks of these hormones out-weigh the little or no benefit. Dr. Perls denounces the marketing of these hormones, particularly growth hormone and anabolic steroids (anabolic steroids are variations of testosterone), for anti-aging. He also provides guidelines for spotting “red flags of quackery” and basic advice that physicians can lend to their patients in their pursuit of healthy aging.
The efforts of AMA were appreciated by Dr. Perls in an editorial appearing in the Future Medicine journal Aging Health.
Concentrations of sex hormones, estrogen in women and testosteronein men, may have a positive effect on the regenerative potential of cartilage tissue, according to researchers from Germany.
It was suggested during a study that hormone replacement in the joint fluid of men and women can be advantageous when it comes to treating late stages of human osteoarthritis (OA) by regenerating damaged tissue.
Nicolai Miosge, M.D., Ph.D., and colleagues from the August University in Goettingen, Germany examined the regenerative potential of chondrogenic progenitor cells (CPCs) that are present in arthritic tissue during the late stages of OA. The research team speculated that these CPCs might be influenced by sex steroids, and therefore hormone replacement therapy directed to the joint fluid could be beneficial in restoring damaged tissue. Tissue samples from 372 patients who underwent total knee replacement were analyzed. The mean age was 71 years of age for men and 72 years for women, with women representing 64.25% of participants.
Estrogens are known to influence bone metabolism and researchers found that 17β-estradiol (E2), which increases calcium deposition in both sexes, was present in the joint fluid of study participants. CPCs positive for estrogen receptors (ERα and ERβ) as well as androgen receptors were present in the OA tissue as well. Both estrogen and testosterone influenced the expression of all 3 receptor genes and the CPCs by regulating gene expression.
The results of this evidence-based study appeared in an issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American College of Rheumatology.
βarrestin2, a protein used for the purpose of regulation of androgen receptors’ expression, can be a new focal point for staging and curing testosterone-fueled prostate cancer, as per medical College of Georgia researchers. The study findings were reported in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Online Early Edition.
As per study’s corresponding author, Dr. Yehia Daaka, Distinguished Chair in Oncologic Pathology in the MCG School of Medicine, an increase in the number of androgen receptors was what considered to be behind the growth of prostate cancer progression in men with advanced disease.
With increased numbers of androgen receptors, prostate cancer can make use of the limited testosterone available after a diseased prostate gland is removed or after testosterone production is blocked by drug therapy. In fact, the increased number of androgen receptors may mutate so they can start feeding off other steroidsor even growth factors, Dr. Daaka says.
These wily skills help explain why cancer returns despite initially promising treatment results.
“It is clear that signaling by the androgen receptor is paramount for not only the initiation but also the progression of the disease, including escape to a hormone-refractory disease,” he says. Moves androgen receptors make to support cancer growth make it “unbeatable at this point,” for some patients.
However increased levels of βarrestin2 appear to halt the potentially deadly increase in androgen receptor expression, the MCG research team has found.
Dr. Daaka, a Georgia Cancer Coalition Distinguished Cancer Scholar, remarked that initiation and progression of prostate cancer can be regulated by regulated by expression or non-expression of activation or repression of the androgen receptors’ co-factors.
The involved collaborators included Dr. Vijayabaskar Lakshmikanthan, postdoctoral fellow; Dr. Lin Zou, former postdoctoral fellow; Jae Kim, graduate student; Dr. Nidia C. Messias, assistant professor; and Dr. Zhongzhen Nie, assistant professor; from the MCG Department of Pathology; and Drs. Allison Michal and Jeffrey L. Benovic from Thomas Jefferson University.
Despite protests and outcries from members of sporting confederations and sportsmen, the relationship between sports and steroids is getting better than ever with more and more sportsmen making use of steroids than in the past.
While some people say that steroidsare harmful to the human bodies, the truth is often kept hidden and the truth is that steroids do not bring any side effects with them, unless the steroid user starts abusing steroids.
From Entertainment.howstuffworks.com:
Anabolic Steroids
A steroid is a chemical substance derived from cholesterol. The body has several major steroid hormones — cortisol and testosterone in the male, estrogen and progesterone in the female. Catabolic steroids break down tissue, and anabolic steroids build up tissue. Anabolic steroids build muscle and bone mass primarily by stimulating the muscle and bone cells to make new protein.
Athletes use anabolic steroids because they increase muscle strength by encouraging new muscle growth. Anabolic steroids are similar in structure to the male sex hormone, testosterone, so they enhance male reproductive and secondary sex characteristics (testicle development, hair growth, thickening of the vocal cords). They allow the athlete to train harder and longer at any given period.
Anabolic steroids are mostly testosterone (male sex hormone) and its derivatives. Examples of anabolic steroids include:
By having a close look at the above points, it can be clearly concluded that anabolic steroids are exceptional products that helps in building lean muscle mass besides brining favorable changes in body mass and function.
HIV Patients who have been treated with anabolic steroids for preventing AIDSWasting can feel modest gains in the terms of muscle size and weight according to a medical review that was published in an issue of The Cochrane Library, a publication of The Cochrane Collaboration.
The enormity of experienced gains can be termed to be relevant in clinical terms, as per review’s lead author Karen Johns, a Medical Assessment Officer from the Agency Health Canada.
From News-Medical.Net:
Anabolic steroidsare synthetic substances similar to the male sex hormonetestosterone that promote growth of skeletal muscle and the development of male sexual characteristics.
Although most recently in the news for their misuse by professional athletes, anabolic steroids have legitimate medical application for men with low testosterone and people with certain types of anemia. Two anabolic steroidsavailable in the United States, nandrolone decanoate and oxandrolone, have been used to help increase weight and muscle mass in small studies of people with wasting.
Conversely, anabolic steroid use has been associated with increased rates of HIV in those who share needles or use nonsterile needles when they inject steroids.
In the review studies, anabolic steroids were administered to patients either orally or by injection. The main side effects were mild and included abnormal liver function tests; acne; mild increase in body hair; breast tenderness; increased libido, aggressiveness and irritability; and mood swings — all common side effect of anabolic steroid use.
“The risks and side effects of taking anabolic steroids long-term are certainly of concern,” Johns said. “We were unable to assess these risks in our review due to the short duration of treatment in the studies.”
AIDS Wasting is a result of low testosteroneand lost ability of the human body to promote muscle growth. This review is expected to offer a new paradigm for providing relief to patients with HIV.
As per a new medical review, people with HIV and treated with anabolic steroids for prevention of AIDS Wasting tend to experience modest gains in body weight and muscle mass.
It was remarked by lead author Karen Johns, a Medical Assessment Officer from the Agency Health Canada, that magnitude of the experienced body weight gain can be regarded as clinically relevant. This review was published in an issue of The Cochrane Library, a publication of The Cochrane Collaboration.
From News-Medical.Net:
Anabolic steroids are synthetic substances similar to the male sex hormone testosterone that promote growth of skeletal muscle and the development of male sexual characteristics.
Although most recently in the news for their misuse by professional athletes, anabolic steroids have legitimate medical application for men with low testosterone and people with certain types of anemia. Two anabolic steroids available in the United States, nandrolone decanoate and oxandrolone, have been used to help increase weight and muscle mass in small studies of people with wasting.
Conversely, anabolic steroid use has been associated with increased rates of HIV in those who share needles or use nonsterile needles when they inject steroids.
In the review studies, anabolic steroids were administered to patients either orally or by injection. The main side effects were mild and included abnormal liver function tests; acne; mild increase in body hair; breast tenderness; increased libido, aggressiveness and irritability; and mood swings — all common side effect of anabolic steroid use.
“The risks and side effects of taking anabolic steroids long-term are certainly of concern,” Johns said. “We were unable to assess these risks in our review due to the short duration of treatment in the studies.”
AIDS Wasting leads to considerable body weight loss in people with HIV and tend to result in loss of muscles. The AIDS wasting stems from lost ability of the body for facilitating muscle growth and from low levels of testosterone.
Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a disease of the immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). It reduces the effectiveness of the immune system and can eventually lead to debilitation and some dysfunction in the normal physiologic process in the body.
Several of the common problems of AIDS patients were significant decrease in weight and muscle wasting. The wasting is due to the decrease in production of testosterone.
Testosterone is responsible for promotion of muscle growth as well as for development of sexual characteristics in male.
Researchers observed a group of adults infected with HIV for at least six weeks. Anabolic steroids were administered either orally or intravenously. Those in the control group, however, received placebo only. Those in the treatment group were found to have an increase in their weight by as much as 3 pounds.
Side effectsinclude acne; mild increase in body hair; breast tenderness; increase in libido and aggressiveness; mood swings and mild to moderate abnormality in liver function tests.
Two anabolic steroids currently used to combat muscle wasting, increase weight and muscle mass are nandrolone decanoate and oxandrolone. These two were considered as prescribed drugs in the United States.
The review covered 13 studies of adults age 24 to 42 with HIV, 294 of whom received anabolic steroids for at least six weeks and 238 of whom received placebo. The average weight increase in those taking anabolic steroids was nearly three pounds.
The Michigan Office of Racing Commissioner (ORC) has implemented ban on the use of anabolic setroids to race horses at any pari-mutuel track in the state. Based on the proposals made by the Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI) and several other national horse racing associations, all horses would now be subjected to testing for the presence of anabolic steroids.
The prohibition rule has come into effect from the beginning of this month, but a grace period of 60-days till June 1, 2009 would be given to accused trainers. Only after the date, any test with the presence of anabolic steroids will be subjected to fine and suspension.
The Michigan ORC would follow the nationally accepted residue thresholds for the four recognized anabolic steroids, named Boldenone (Equipoise), Nandrolone, testosterone and metabolite of stanozolol (Winstrol), as suggested by the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium (RMTC) and ARCI. Besides these, existence of any other steroid is also strictly prohibited and the presence of more than one of these four banned drugs at any concentration is not permitted too.
Along with these prohibition rules, any sick or injured horse, being treated with anabolic steroids, would not be allowed to race at a Michigan pari-mutuel track until the horse got a clean chit for complete elimination of drug’s remains.
Historically, trainers have given anabolic steroids to race horses for different reasons including increasing appetite and aggressiveness and promoting muscle development. However, recent events have caused the entire horse racing industry to review the use of steroids.
Based upon recommendations made by the Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI) and a number of other national horse racing associations, steroid use is now deemed contrary to the best interests of race horses and horse racing. As such, beginning on April 1, 2009, the presence of anabolic steroids will be prohibited in all horses entered to race at any pari-mutuel track in Michigan. All horses will now be subject to testing for anabolic steroids.
The Michigan ORC will follow the nationally accepted residue thresholds for the four recognized anabolic steroids listed below as set forth by the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium (RMTC) and the Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI).
Earlier, trainers inject race horses with steroids because of various reasons, including increasing appetite, aggressiveness and muscle development. But, some recent events of steroid abuse formed the basis to review this earlier application policy of steroids in horse racing industry.
A leading medical authority has criticized usage of anti-aging hormones in response to a recently released report “The use of hormones for “anti-aging”: a review of efficacy and safety,” by the American Medical Association’s (AMA) Council.
Concentrations of sex hormones, estrogen in women and 
βarrestin2, a protein used for the purpose of regulation of androgen receptors’ expression, can be a new focal point for staging and curing testosterone-fueled prostate cancer, as per 
Despite protests and outcries from members of sporting confederations and sportsmen, the relationship between sports and steroids is getting better than ever with more and more sportsmen making use of steroids than in the past.
HIV Patients who have been treated with anabolic steroids for preventing AIDS Wasting can feel modest gains in the terms of muscle size and weight according to a medical review that was published in an issue of The Cochrane Library, a publication of The Cochrane Collaboration.
As per a new medical review, people with HIV and treated with anabolic steroids for 
Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a disease of the immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). It reduces the effectiveness of the immune system and can eventually lead to debilitation and some dysfunction in the normal physiologic process in the body.
The Michigan Office of Racing Commissioner (ORC) has implemented ban on the use of 